With the air around Rexall Place so thick with failure, fear and loathing these days and the Edmonton Oilers playing out the string, it's almost impossible to find a silver lining for fans to hang their hats on.

We're at the point in the draft cycle where hockey men use hyperbole to describe the future. Ken Hitchcock has Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as a cross between a young Joe Sakic and a young Pavel Datsyk; Sean Couturier`s last name should be 'Staal' according to the comparables; and Adam Larsson is better than Lidstrom at this age. Apparently.

Underdog was an animated TV series, with one of the best show intros ever, that Lowetide and Brownlee watched while eating cheerios in their pajamas in the late 60s and early 70s. There is no way they didn't get jacked up watching Underdog, who always spoke in rhymes and one of his favourite saying was, "There's no need to fear, Underdog is here."

Fast forward to 2011, and the Oilers could use his slogan for the remainder of the year. Even against the struggling Colorado Avalanche, 1-18-2 in their last 21, the Oilers are still the underdog tonight.